Unraveling the diagnostic and prognostic signatures of oral microbiota in head and neck cancer

Sep 22, 2026

Head and neck cancer, especially squamous cell carcinoma, remains a major global health challenge. Strong evidence links oral microbiota dysbiosis with oral and systemic conditions, yet the specific relationship to head and neck cancer is not fully characterized. This study analyzes oral microbiota profiles in patients and evaluates their diagnostic and prognostic value. Results identify disease-associated anaerobic biofilm-forming bacteria, model discrimination performance, and taxa linked to survival, supporting microbiota signatures as clinical biomarkers.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages21

Reading Time53 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Background

Results

Conclusions

Background

Sung et al. BMC Biology (2026) 24:103 [https://doi.org/10.1186/s12915-026-02573-z](https://doi.org/10.1186/s12915-026-02573-z) BMC Biology RESEARCH Open Access Unraveling the diagnostic and prognostic signatures of oral microbiota in head and neck cancer Hojun Sung1,2†, Dong-Wook Hyun1,2†, Tae Woong Whon3, Pil Soo Kim 1,2, Hyun Sik Kim1,2, Jae-Yun Lee 1, So-Yeon Lee2, Jee-Won Choi2, Ji-Ho Yoo2,4, Mi-Ja Jung3, Ji-Hyun Yun1, June-Young Lee 1,2, Euon Jung Tak1, Yun-Seok Jeong2, Seung Woo Kim5, Moonseung Baeg5, Young-Gyu Eun6, Young Chan Lee6* and Jin-Woo Bae 1,2* Abstract Background Head and neck cancer, predominantly squamous cell carcinoma, has emerged as a significant global health concern. Growing evidence has established a strong association between dysbiosis of the oral microbiota and both oral and systemic diseases. However, the association between the oral microbiota and head and neck cancer has not yet been fully described. This study aimed to investigate the distinct profiles ofthe oral microbiota in patients with head and neck cancer and their potential as diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers for head and neck cancer. Results Comparative analyses revealed that compared to controls, the oral microbiota of patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) exhibited an increased abundance of anaerobic, biofilm-forming bacteria, and potential pathogens. A machine learning model successfully differentiated HNSCC patients from controls with an area under the curve of 0.902. Key features of this model, such as Peptostreptococcus and Capnocytophaga, were found to be candidate biomarkers for HNSCC, with certain taxa, such as Abiotrophia, serving as prognostic indicators. Although pronounced differences in oral microbiota among HNSCC patients primarily resulted from interindividual variations, distinct community types were identified, with the type dominated by Proteobacteria being associated with the lowest probability of survival. Conclusions Our findings indicate that the oral microbiota may predict HNSCC and may act as a therapeutic target to improve the prognosis of HNSCC. This investigation underscores the crucial role of oral microbial dysbiosis in the etiopathogenesis and clinical prognosis of HNSCC, making a case for further integrative metagenomic and clinical research. Keywords Head and neck cancer, Oral microbiota, Biofilm formation, Nitrate reduction, Machine learning, RandomForest, Oral network, Dirichlet multinomial mixture model, Biomarker, Prognosis †Hojun Sung and Dong-Wook Hyun contributed equally to this study. *Correspondence: Young Chan Lee [medchan@khu.ac.kr](medchan@khu.ac.kr)[ ](medchan@khu.ac.kr)Jin-Woo Bae [baejw@khu.ac.kr](baejw@khu.ac.kr) Full list of author information is available at the end of the article © The Author(s) 2026. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, which permits any non-commercial use, sharing, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if you modified the licensed material. You do not have permission under this licence to share adapted material derived from this article or parts of it. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.)[.](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.) Sung et al. BMC Biology

FAQs

What was the study’s main goal regarding oral microbiota and head and neck cancer?

To characterize distinct oral microbiota profiles in patients with head and neck cancer and assess their diagnostic and prognostic biomarker potential.

How did the machine learning model perform at distinguishing patients from controls?

It differentiated head and neck squamous cell carcinoma patients from controls with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.902.

Which oral microbiota features were highlighted as candidate biomarkers or prognostic indicators?

Peptostreptococcus and Capnocytophaga were identified as candidate biomarkers, while certain taxa such as Abiotrophia were associated with prognosis.

Sep 22, 2026

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